Running like a fat drunk from Drogheda

Or worse: playing like one. My only live outing this week before Galway was in the monthly game in Malahide. First real hand of note was my exit: normally standard enough, KK into AA, but really I should have found the fold button as I knew deep down it was 95% aces. I knew it and still put the chips in, partly because I was thinking "Ah well, if I get knocked out I'll be home in time for the most profitable time of the night online". No excuse, you should never play any game unless you're giving it your all, but in fairness I did scoot on home and make almost as much online in a few hours as I would have if I'd chopped the tourney.

Online's still going ridiculously well as the merry upswing continues. It's so effortless at the moment that I know it can't possibly continue but I might as well enjoy it while I can. I've now pushed comfortably past six figures overall profit for the year online which is just as well given that my live profit is barely into five. Obviously I'm running well online at the minute, but I also think I'm reaping the benefits of a lot of hard work put in on the technical and mathematical side of the game. One thing that struck me in Vegas when I spoke about poker with the young pros there and also whenever I talk to the young English internet lads is how much attention and work they put into the technical side of the game. I think that's not necessarily one of the strengths of Irish poker culture. When Irish players talk poker it's all about moves and outrageous bluffs and 5 bet air shoves which are well and good but I believe the foundation of any good poker (or any other) game is a solid mastery of the technical aspect. It's no secret that many of our top live players lose or at least don't win online, and I think a lot of that is down to technical flaws. It's clearly possible to be a substantial winner on the Irish live scene in spite of some huge technical leaks, but that is not the case online.

Next up is Galway which I'm looking forward to. The IPC two years ago was my major tourney debut and although I was out last hand of day one (to Ciaran, ironically enough) it was a memorable experience as my table included Neil Channing, Roy Brindley and most memorably of all Maud Mulder. I missed last year's affair as it clashed with a race in New York, so I'm really looking forward to giving this year's a good ole lash.

Heading down tomorrow with Big Ian to do another show from the player's party. I believe Boyle's new sponsored pro Nicky "Tiger Woods" Power will be our esteemed guest. Known for his witty banter at the tables, Nicky's one of the great characters of Irish poker and hats off to Boyle's to looking beyond the usual parade of major tournament winners and big online winners to give a deal to somebody who could actually do with the money. Also good to see there's no ageism in Boyle's: many people felt that at 27 Nicky was a little long in the tooth and short in the hair but the fact that he landed his second major sponsorship from an Irish online site is stirring testament to the long hours he's put in on the golf course.

Newsflash: Channing likes money

Came down to Monaghan to do the IPR show with Ian. Special guest Neil Channing proved he could talk for England on his favourite topic (no, not poker). Played the tourney later. Never really got going and ended up shipping KQ into a certain Nordy luckbox's AK. Standard ship, standard call, standard result.

Afterwards Ian arranged an 11 player 20 Euro sit n go that included Rob Taylor and Neil Channing. I got three handed with about 40% of the chips, also known as 6 bigs, when I decided to trap limp aces in the SB. That plan back fired gloriously when Neil checked with it turned out QJ and the flop came QQ4. We managed to get the rest in on the turn.

That left Neil headsup with a local guy who had less than starting stack, or about 1 big blind. Ian suggested a €50 consolation prize for second but Neil displaying all the ruthlessness of a top poker player was having none of it. Which drew a rather blunt response from the local (rhymes with "You're some stunt").

Thanks to all those who took guesses at the significance of the 3 burgers and a diet coke in the last blog. Some very imaginative stuff: the actual answer is that it takes its inspiration from a Fitz regular who said he heard someone order that in McDonalds once and reflected on the irony or rather pointlessness of going for the diet beverage option when you've decided to down 3 burgers with it. Originally my post was going to be a long whining rant on how much I hate playing live at times, but in the end I decided that that's almost as dsilly as ordering 3 burgers and a diet coke.

3 burgers and a diet coke

Brought the recent outbreak of live grinding to a somewhat successful close by cashing in and final tabling the last two Fitz side events.

Monday: couple of early donations from Chris Dowling set me up nicely for a deep run. It's fair to say Chris, a player I do respect a lot when he's playing his A game, wasn't (playing his A game, or even his Y game). Went wrong for me pretty quickly on the final table when I got it in pre with AA v KK. Well done to Cat O'Neill who ended up in a 4 way chop, continuing a very nice run of form for the Nordy luckbox. Other point of note was presence of Downtown Rory Brown on my first table playing some mighty impressive stuff. It's pretty obvious I'm a big fan of Rory's play (did pick him as a teammate after all), he's a genuine thinking player rather than an autopilot "std" merchant who continues to add new elements to his game and has great natural instincts. I'm also impressed by the way he carries himself at the table, which is very important imo. Rory's consistently going deep now and I expect him to bing a big one before too long. Speaking of which, well done to Andy Grimasson, another brilliant player and great guy, for his ECOOP score. Andy was due a big one, and I'm delighted he got one.

Tuesday: Joan Vickers rebuy. I felt this tournament might suit me. For one thing I think my recent run on Stars indicates I've mastered the quick rebuy format. For another, apart from Rob Taylor, Marq O'Neill and one or two others, there were very few really good players in a sea of Fitz donkeys. Gambled in the right spots early only to get sucked out on, so the final tally was three rebuys and an addon. Motored on nicely after the break courtesy of several donkations. Was chipleader on the final table for most of it, several times. The pattern was move into a big chiplead, then lose a few flips and 60/40s, recover back to the chiplead without showdowns, then another batch of lost flips and 60/40s. Think there were at least 15 races or 60/40s and I managed to lose every last motherfucker. Then 4 handed I made a soul read check raise shove for 60% of the chips in play with K6 on a KQ8 board. My opponent made a soul read call with QT and rivered the T. I think if I win that hand I win the tourney. In fact, I think if I won even one or two of the flips/60-40s I win the tourney. Ended up third instead for 900. As is usual in the Fitz, there were too many paid (10 in a 60 runner field) and too much for top 2 (1600 for second and 2600 ftw, meaning 60% of prize pool for top 2, meaning the other places paid less than they should).

So despite final tabling 3 of the 5 Fitz festival events and notching up a third I managed to show a net loss for the festival, a mildly unsatisfactory outcome to a lot of (in my opinion) very good tournament poker. So it's fair to say I'm looking to taking a break from the live scene and getting back to some online grinding. We're getting to the end of the year and naturally the mind starts to reflect on the 12 months that have just been and planning for the next 12. It's been a year of finding my feet and proving I can make a good living for myself and my family from the game, and although the big score has eluded me, I'm happy to have at least done that. I genuinely believe I've run pretty badly live this year and but for that would have landed a big one. I'm happy that I've managed to keep grinding out smaller results in the circumstances and show consistency, which I feel is the real hallmark of the good tournament player. Anyone can luckbox one big score or go on a short lived heater, that's genuinely one of the beauties of tournament poker, but the best tournament players are the consistent ones in my opinion.

I did pick up some more ranking points for the last two results but that doesn't really make much odds now as Wally is I believe several million points ahead and uncatchable so I've stopped chasing. I'll talk more at some point about my big plans for next year, it's fair to say I'm going to make some sweeping changes in my approach to getting to the next level. One thing I can say at this point is I'll probably play less live events in Ireland (and aim for more big ones abroad). I'll also continue to move my focus more to online where I have a proven track record as a winning player. Liam Flood asked me once whether I'd prefer to do well live or online, and the truth is that I do see online now as the bread and butter and live more as the cream on top.

Next up outside the house is another Irish Poker Radio show this weekend and a chance to interview Neil Channing apparently.

Now, anyone want to hazard a guess as to how the title of this entry relates to the content? I'll post the answer on the next entry (assuming anyone's remotely interested) and there might even be a prize like a percentage of me in the IPC for any successful guessers.

Fish and ships

Ah yes, that old familiar "Why do I bother with live poker" feeling is back after a few days in the Fitz.

Main event: one of those frustrating tourneys where you play very well for over a day only to lose a race near the bubble. It fell to James "Hawkeye" McManus to take me out by the roots. I raised to 4K at 800/1500 with AKs, he made it 11K on the button, I shipped for over 40K and after some thught he announced "I'm pretty sure we're racing" and called with 7s. My Las Vegas stripper of a hand (looks great, but ultimately gets you nothing but trouble) was no match for his sturdy pocket pair.

Jumped straight into the PLO, played well again but ultimately no avail. My exit (in 7th) was AA87 doublesuited, no match for Paul Fish (for once actually sitting at a final table rather than lurking around in the background waiting to tap the winner) with his QJT2 rainbow, all in pre.

Ah well, back on the horse I guess.

Who's the donkey with the nines?

Well, it had to end some time, and the recent online heater has subsided. Back to a breakeven (before rakeback) week so far online. Getting repeatedly raped on the bubble or headsup in stts which makes all the difference between big winning weeks and the rest. At last I'm not actually losing. Roll on the next heater.

Got chatting to a local on Stars one night and agreed to give him a lesson on online play the following day. Turns out to be Mickey Nolan (JP Masters champion). I think I probably learned more than he did as he gave the full run down on his unorthodox theories on poker.

Thursday: played Fitz EOM, never really got going, exit was a bog standard reship with queens. Found myself up against nines and heading out the door on a 9 high flop. Recorded an IPR show with Iain: very good Rory Brown interview.

Friday: scalps game. Got going for once, was up to 45K before the inevitable donkeying. A player who had just been moved to the table that looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't remember having played with before opened for 4200 in mid position. I made it 14K just behind, back round to him who asked how much I had behind before he shipped for 26K. I obviously called and he turns over 99, standard enough for the Fitz where any pair is a monster, although the better players in there know I'm not showing up with twos (Smurph had folded 88 earlier when I had JJ in a similar spot). He's lucky that it's one of those occasions where he's racing rather than looking at an overpair (I had AK, which despite hitting two pair was no good as he setted up). Afterwards he made the rather bizarre statement that he wouldn't have pushed if he had realised it was a race but he thought he had the overpair. I assured him quite truthfully that he never has in that spot against me, that it's a race at best scenario, which he seemed dubious about but Rob and Smurph who were both at the table backed me up on that point. Rob pointed out rather truthfully too that it's a pretty retarded ship with no fold equity.

Anyway, that left me with a reshipping stack and I subsequently reshipped AQ over a raise from Rob. Marginal enough but I thought I was ahead often enough for it to be ok, which I was on this occasion. Rob folded his AJ but unfortunately Wally woke up with kings in the big blind.

As I was walking down the stairs with Smurph and Martin, I asked her who the donkey with the 9s was. I assumed it was some Fitz regular, I don't go there often enough these days to know the regulars as well as I used to. They were both very amused I didn't realise who it was: Mr. IPO himself Stephen McLean.

Crapshoot king

Recent online upswing continues. After a bad night session where I seemed to have gone back to running bad, I had an amazing evening yesterday winning not one but both the nightly crapshoots on Stars for IPC packages. First one was a sick sweat headsup but felt like I was freerolling the second one (against DrJff, a young player I rate very highly, and felt very sorry for as it's a sick "flipping for $4K" bubble: Stars turned off the chat at that point, otherwise I'd have suggested some sort of business).

I wasn't even paying attention as I was watching the match and just clicking buttons whenever needed. Push/fold is no brain stuff and I was just checking the stack to blind ratios, deciding whether to get it in or not, and not even looking when I was all in. Mireille was a lot more excited than I was, going "You have a good stack now!" and "No ace, no king, no queen, no heart, no 6, no 5, no 3.....Yes!!!!". Rather surreally the first one ended around the time Henry was cheating us out of a World Cup spot meaning I got treated to the rather bizarre sight of Mireille simultaneously dancing to celebrate the package while swearing and spitting vile in French at Henry on the TV screen.

Busted last hand before the break of the second one, rebought much to Big Iain's a and bemusement insisting that even with 3 bigs it was a plus Ev prop for me at that point. So it proved as a serious of quality doggings including one where I called a multiway allin with 54o, found myself double dominated and still managed to prevail, motored me to the final table. One sick call there, where I called an allin for all my chips in the BB with the mighty J6o. I knew the SB was shipping any 2 and with 48% equity against that range it was a standard call, even if my MSN went berserk with people asking if I'd misclicked. Rather amusingly, my opponent's random holding turned out to be J5.

Overall I'm up somewhere close to $20K since last Friday making it easily my best online week ever. Apart from the tourney scores (I've had 2 wins and 3 cashes in last 5 attempts on Stars for over $10K profit), I've also been doing very well in the sit and gos. For a while early in the week I was winning at least half those I played. When I run good, I run good. Hoping the heater will continue obviously.

Swingers

Seems like everyone I know has been downswinging of late: well, Big Mick and Dagunman at least, and I've been battling with my own. After last Sunday's bounce thanks to winning the Ipoker $4K gtd, it was normal service resumed at the start of the week. Not that I was doing my bollocks or anything, more a case of putting in a lot of hours for little or no profit and having sudden moments of panic around 3 AM every night asking myself where it all went wrong and why bother continuing just to break even every day.

Tuesday: took a break from online (well, only played 3 or 4 hours), ran the socks off a certain young poker legend, who then accompanied me to the Westbury monthly. Recorded another Irish Poker Radio there with Iain, which I think went very well, probably my favourite show so far. The sound of my own voice still tilts me like nothing else on earth (can only imagine how bad the Doke drone must be for the rest of you), but Rob rabbiting about the WSOP FT was quality and John's interview was really good.

Tournament itself was meh for moi. Played pretty well overall although the hand that crippled me on the cusp of the final table was marginal to say the least. Basically I shipped (or rather committed myself to calling my opponent's ship) with an overcard and an openender after he donk led from the blinds. He had shown himself to be an opposite bettor throughout the night, checking the goods and betting when unsure, so I interpreted the donk lead as a weakish one pair hand. Unfortunately he had two pair and just didn't like the draws, and he went with it. I also made a mistake relating to his stack size. Before I raised, I counted about 30K in his stack (I was playing 60K), but when he shipped, three 5K chips emerged from behind. I still had to call, but now it was for 75% of my stack rather than half.

Rest of the week was back to the grind and the corner was turned on the downswing. Friday was a good day and Saturday even better. In his interview, John pointed out these are always the best evenings to catch the weekender mackerel: something I figured out almost as soon as I started playing poker, but also something I'd somehow forgotten. Cleared almost $2K profit today, easily my best day in a long while online. I've been paying more attention to game selection. Rather than just blindly grinding $50 stts across the three sites, I've been jumping in when I see value. During the week, that sometimes means going down to the $20 or $30 games: today, there were a few $100s that were fishier than a convention of fishmongers.